If Today Was Your Last Day
by Myra109
Summary: Henry receives a note saying he only has three days to live, and if he tells anyone, his friends and family die, too. AU "Henry found himself asking the question no kid should have to ask themselves: If today was your last day, what would you do with it?"


_Hello, everyone. How is everyone's day going so far?_

 _This is just something I thought of. It turned out longer than I expected, but I guess that's good. I hope you like it!_

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own the TV series Henry Danger in any way, shape, or form. If I did, I would just make this story canon._**

 ** _WARNINGS: MILD VIOLENCE_**

* * *

 _If today was your last day_

 _And tomorrow was too late_

 _Could you say goodbye to yesterday?_

 _Would you live each moment like your last?_

 _Leave old pictures in the past_

 _Donate every dime you have?_

 _If today was your last day_

 _(If today was your last day)_

-"If Today Was Your Last Day" by Nickleback

* * *

"Henry!" Piper screamed as she stormed into Henry's room.

"Piper, get out of my room!" Henry ordered as he typed some words into his computer.

"You can't tell me what to do," Piper replied before throwing an envelope into his lap. "Mom just told me to give you your mail. Why would I want to hang out in your dumb room anyway?" she asked before leaving and slamming the door behind her.

Henry rolled his eyes before ripping open the envelope, and he frowned when he saw the letter was composed of scattered pieces of paper, each with a letter on it to form words. Like a ransom note.

 _Henry Hart, we know that you are Kid Danger. You have three days to live before we find you and take you out. If you tell anyone- even your boss, Captain Man- your little friends die with you._

There were pictures of Charlotte, Jasper, and Henry's family taped below the short but not so sweet paragraph.

Henry lowered the letter as his gaze became fixed on the wall in front of him.

Three days to live.

Henry found himself asking the question no kid should have to ask themselves:

If today was your last day, what would you do with it?

* * *

Henry's watch beeped that night, flashing three times in a row, and Kid Danger leaped off of his bed and climbed out of his window.

Henry ran all the way to Junk 'N Stuff, and he ran past Gooch and entered the elevator, pressing the down button without a moment of hesitation. A second hadn't passed before the elevator dropped at an impossible speed, taking Henry's stomach with it. Henry screamed as the elevator plummeted at such a quick rate, his feet lifted off of the ground.

A metallic clang sounded as the elevator came to an abrupt stop, and the doors opened to reveal the Man Cave.

"What's going on?" Henry demanded as he ran inside.

"Blow a bubble. A man has taken three hostages at a nearby restaurant," Ray explained, quickly, already in uniform.

Henry blew a bubble, and in a flash of green light, he was dressed as Kid Danger, and him and his boss raced to stand under their tubes.

Henry tapped his belt buckle. "Up the tube!"

The two of them whooshed upward, ready to fight some crime.

Henry and Ray rushed into the restaurant, blasters in hand, and they found a man they didn't know standing in the center of the room with a blaster of his own pointed at three people. One was an older man, and the other two were a mother and daughter; the young girl, who couldn't have been more than twelve, trembled with fear.

"Let them go!" Captain Man commanded.

"Why should I?" the man asked. "All I want is the money in that cash register. Then, everyone goes home."

"We can't open it!" the man shouted, apprehension coloring his voice. "The manager and maybe one or two employees are the only ones with a key to the cash register. And they've all left."

"Well, then find a way!" the man ordered.

"Please let us go!" the little girl cried.

"Shut up!" the man growled.

Maybe it was a mistake, but Henry didn't see it that way.

He was going to die in three days. On a normal occasion, he would've been afraid to stand up to such a frightening criminal, but why should he be afraid? If he died today, at least he would go out saving someone. What did he have to fear if one of man's greatest fears- Death- was almost literally knocking on his door?

If Death was coming for him… well, let's just say one bad guy didn't seem so scary anymore.

"Leave her alone!" Henry said. "Leave them all alone."

"I have the leverage," the man bragged. "But… I suppose I only need one hostage, and that girl is getting rather annoying."

He aimed the blaster at the young girl, who yelped.

"No!" Henry shouted before tackling the man without a second thought.

"Kid Danger!" Ray yelled as the man and boy wrestled.

Henry felt fists and feet attack him, but he managed to throw the blaster as far away from them as possible before continuing to fight with the man.

A fist connected with Henry's face, and Henry was distracted long enough for the man to aim another punch at Henry's head. This time, the fist didn't get the chance to connect with its target.

A blast hit the man in the back, and he slumped forward before Henry pushed him off, and the young boy sat up, soreness screaming in every pore of his body.

"You okay, kid?" Ray asked, helping Henry stand.

"I think so," Henry replied. "Nothing's broken, anyway."

"Good. Now what were you thinking?" Ray demanded. "You could've been seriously hurt!"

"What did you want me to do? Let him blast the girl?" Henry asked.

"Thank you."

Henry turned at the small voice and saw the girl standing there.

Henry smiled. "You're welcome. We have to take this man to jail. Can all of you get home, okay?"

The older man nodded. "Thank you, Captain Man and especially you, Kid Danger."

"Thank you for saving my daughter," the woman said, embracing her child.

Henry shrugged. "I'm just doing my job."

"If there's one thing I know," Ray said as they hauled the unconscious man to his feet, "it's that I have a very brave side kick."

In that moment, Henry wanted to blurt out the truth about the letter, the threat, everything, but he couldn't because one sentence was continuously echoing inside of his mind:

 _If you tell anyone- even your boss, Captain Man- your little friends die with you._

Just because Henry was going to die didn't mean he had to take his friends and family down with him.

* * *

"What's going on?" Henry asked at school the next day when him and Charlotte spotted a huge crowd gathering in the main locker area of the school.

"I don't know," Charlotte admitted. "Let's go see."

The two friends pushed to the front of the crowd, and Henry's eyes widened when he saw Jasper facing Mitch, and Mitch was smiling a taunting grin.

Mitch slapped Jasper's bucket out of his hands, and it clattered to the floor.

"You are such a loser," Mitch laughed, and Jasper blushed.

Henry stormed across the floor and stepped between Jasper and Mitch.

"Leave him alone, Mitch," Henry ordered.

Mitch raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah, what if I don't?"

"You mess with my friends, you mess with me," Henry responded. "Jasper is an amazing person, and you're just a big jerk. If you need to cause someone pain, beat me up."

"Henry, you don't have to do this," Jasper said.

"Yes, I do," Henry replied as Mitch lifted Henry off of the ground by the front of his shirt.

"Fine, Hart. Let's dance," Mitch said.

"Let me ask one question first," Henry said.

"What?" Mitch questioned.

Henry walked past Mitch's house everyday when he was going to and coming from work, and he knew stuff about Mitch no one else did. He'd been meaning to talk to Mitch about it, but he'd always been too afraid to approach him. Now, the clock was ticking on Henry's life. He might as well talk to Mitch about it now.

"Will beating people up and bullying them fix anything?" Henry lowered his voice so no one else would hear. "Will it fix the fact that your parents have been fighting every night since your dad lost his job? Will it fix the fact that your brother is doing drugs? Will being a bully fix anything? Mitch, I've never been in your situation, but I can tell you one thing: all this stuff going on in your life with your family and with yourself… it would be a lot easier to deal with if you had friends to help you. And I know that you don't make true friends by being a bully."

Mitch didn't respond. Henry wasn't sure what Mitch was going to do: punch him, speak… cry.

Mitch swallowed. "You won't tell anyone?" he asked, quietly.

Henry shook his head. "Your secrets aren't mine to tell."

Mitch nodded before setting Henry down and walking away, leaving a stunned crowd.

"What'd you say to him?" Charlotte asked in amazement. Mitch had never walked away from a fight, never surrendered. Why was he doing so now?

Henry shrugged. "The truth."

* * *

Henry opened his locker at the end of the school day, and a paper fell to the floor in front of him, which he picked up.

It was obviously from the same person, but this time, it only had a few numbers and words on it.

 _52 Hours, 39 minutes, and 11 seconds left._

* * *

Henry leaned against the couch as he sat on the floor beside the coffee table, studying with Charlotte and Jasper.

"So what's 2x divided by 3?" Charlotte asked.

"Nine," Jasper answered.

"Do you guys remember that time we went to that amusement park and Jasper was too scared to go on that ride?" Henry asked, randomly.

Charlotte frowned. "Yeah. Why?"

"You and I did everything we could to calm Jasper down, and when we finally got him on the ride, we all thought we were going to die when we went over that huge hill."

"So as we were climbing it, we told each other everything we could in that thirty seconds," Jasper recalled. "I still can't believe you said you didn't like my buckets!"

Henry shrugged. "I love you guys," he said.

Jasper frowned. "Love you, too," he said, slowly, in confusion.

"Is everything okay?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah," Henry said. "I just wanted you guys to know that."

Charlotte still looked suspicious, but she didn't push it.

* * *

"I am not okay!" Piper yelled as she ran inside the Hart home.

"Why?" Henry asked, looking from his book.

"You don't have to pretend. I know you don't care," she grumbled. "You never care."

Henry frowned. "What are you talking about? Of course I care."

"Then why do you answer my calls, then put the phone down and walk away?" she asked. "Or miss my dance recital or refuse to help me make a video or never hang out with me?"

Henry didn't respond for several minutes. He'd never realized the truth about his relationship with Piper until now. When was the last time he actually took even an hour to hang out with his baby sister? When was the last time he had a genuine conversation with her? When was the last time he hugged her or told her he cared about her?

It'd been so long since him and Piper had actually shown how much they cared for each other. Would she even miss him after he died? Or would she see him as the indifferent stranger that lived down the hall from her?

"You're right," Henry admitted. "Tell you what, do you have any plans for the rest of the day?"

Piper shook her head with a perplexed frown. "No."

"Then we are going to have a sibling day. We'll do whatever you want to do. No complaints from me," Henry added.

Piper's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Really," Henry confirmed.

"Then let's go!" Piper cheered.

* * *

"So Marla actually sent that horrible photo to your crush?" Henry asked as him and Piper walked inside. "That was just plain rude."

"I know," Piper replied.

"Where have you two been?" their dad asked.

"Here and there," Henry answered. "Went to the mall, the movies, got some frozen yogurt."

"Just the two of you?" their mother asked, and when they nodded, she raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Wow. I can't remember the last time you two hung out."

"Neither can we," Piper giggled. "Anyway, I'll be upstairs. Thanks, Hen."

She disappeared up the stairs, and their mother stood up from the kitchen table to get started on the dishes.

"I got it, Mom," Henry volunteered. "You deserve a break."

Her eyes widened. "What has gotten into you?"

Henry shrugged as he turned on the faucet. "Let's just something opened my eyes."

She smiled and ruffled his hair. "I love you, kiddo."

"I love you, too, Mom," Henry told her.

* * *

Henry was putting his books in his locker when Mitch appeared at his side.

"Hey, Mitch," Henry said.

"I just wanted to say… you were right," Mitch told him. "About the whole thing. I'm sorry for how I treated you all these years."

Henry smiled. "It's cool."

Mitch frowned. "How do you do that?"

Henry frowned. "Do what?"

"Forgive people so easily," Mitch answered.

Henry shrugged as he closed his locker. "Life is too short to hold grudges, Mitch. You should forgive people before it's too late. Time is never truly on our side, is it?"

Henry left the stupefied boy standing beside the lockers and headed for class.

* * *

Henry passed the man on his way to work after school.

The man was a wreck with torn and dirty clothes and brown locks in desperate need of a hair cut. He had a small duffle bag and was sitting on the ground with a small tin cup in his lap.

Henry didn't know him, but it was all too obvious that life had not been kind to this man. He looked like he hadn't eaten in days. How long had it been since he had a roof over his head? Where was his family? Did he have anyone or was he all alone in the world?

Henry handed the man his leftover lunch, and the man smiled in gratitude as the young teenage boy walked away. The homeless man honestly wasn't too sure if there were still good people in the world. It felt good to know that there were.

He opened the lunch bag, and his eyes widened as he pulled out five twenty dollar bills (Henry's entire pay check from work last week).

A sticky note had been placed on top of the money.

 _Keep it. You need it more than I do._

The man gazed after the boy with his mouth wide open.

Wow. That was the only thought the man had.

* * *

The following day, Henry wandered into the juvenile detention center, dressed as Kid Danger, and he gave a name to the woman at the desk before a guard escorted him to the meeting area.

She was sitting at the table, and Henry sat across from her.

"Never thought I'd see you here," she laughed. "Herbert."

"Hey, Veronica," Kid Danger said before pulling a picture out of his pocket and sliding it across the table to rest in front of Veronica.

Henry had done some research on the Wall Dog sitting in front of him and discovered that Veronica's parents had divorced when she was three. She'd lived with her abusive father until she ran away and became a Wall Dog. Vandelle was like the father she never had; the Wall Dogs weren't just her fellow vandals. They were her family.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Your mother," he told her. "I found her, and after talking with her on the phone, I discovered that the reason you never saw her after the divorce was because your father changed his number when he moved to Swellview. He never told your mother where you two moved after she lost custody of you. She wanted to find you, to see you, to be with you, but she couldn't find you. But Captain Man has some very advanced equipment; we usually use it to find criminals, but I thought it would work here, too."

"You did this for me?" Veronica asked. "Even after I lied to you?"

Henry nodded. "You're a good person, Veronica. You just got a little lost along the way.

"She knows you're in here and what you did, and she doesn't care. I think she partially blames herself for leaving you with your abusive father. She'll be here in a few hours to see you."

Veronica smiled, and Kid Danger headed for the door.

"You know," Veronica said, standing up. "I may have lied to you about spray painting and all of that… but my feelings for you were real."

Henry smiled. "Mine, too," he told her before pressing a kiss to her lips. "Good luck, Veronica."

"You, too, Kid Danger," she told him as he left.

Most teenagers can't say they'd truly fallen in love, but Henry was one of the few that could. He only wished that he would be alive when Veronica got out of this place to see where this relationship could go.

* * *

"Where have you been?" Ray asked as Henry walked into the Man Cave.

"Just visiting an old friend," he told his boss. "Any calls yet?"

"Nope," Ray told him.

"Ray," Shwoz said in his thick accent as he entered the room.

"What?" Ray questioned.

"Can I have a raise?" Shwoz asked.

"Why don't you raise your hand and slap your face with it?" Ray asked (I know this doesn't happen until late season 3, but it works as a great scene in this story) with a laugh.

Henry watched as a humiliated expression came over Shwoz's face, and he glanced at Ray, who was still laughing.

"Ray, maybe you should," Henry said.

"What? Slap him?" Ray chuckled.

"No," Henry replied. "Give him a raise."

Ray's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Well, yeah, we wouldn't have caught half of the criminals we have without Shwoz's help," Henry pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but I don't have the money to give him a raise," the superhero said.

"Don't worry. I think you're going to have some extra money on your hands very soon," Henry said.

 _When I'm gone, Ray won't have to pay me, so he'll definitely have a lot of extra money._

A beep sounded, and Henry pulled his phone out of his pocket to look at the text message from a blocked number.

 _It's time to meet your end, Kid Danger. Warehouse 52, 93rd Street. Come alone._

"Fine, you can have a raise," Ray said, reluctantly.

Shwoz cheered. "Thanks, Ray, and thanks, Henry."

Henry nodded. "I have to get going."

"You just got here," Ray said in bewilderment.

Henry nodded. "I know. Something came up," he told Ray as he stood under his tube and pulled the remote out of his pocket.

Ray shrugged, not thinking much of it, and he began to turn away.

Henry sighed. "Ray?"

"Yeah?" Ray asked, turning back to face Henry.

"Thanks."

Ray frowned. "For what?"

"For being such a good friend," Henry said before tapping the button on his remote and watching the tube descend. "Up the tube!"

Henry was whisked upward while Ray turned to face Shwoz.

"Was that weird to you?" Captain Man asked.

The handyman nodded. "Definitely."

* * *

Henry ran into Charlotte outside Junk N' Stuff.

"Hey, Hen," she said. "Where are you going?"

"Something came up, so I had to leave early," Henry replied, trying not to show fear in his expression as he walked towards his fate.

Charlotte nodded and headed for the door, but Henry suddenly grabbed her shoulder and swept her into a hug.

"You're the best friend I ever could've asked for," Henry told her before letting go and running down the street before she could even think to ask him what that was all about.

* * *

Henry, dressed as Kid Danger, entered the warehouse, and he walked into the center of the huge room, shining the light from his phone all around him to search for any sign of life.

Suddenly, the lights popped crackled and popped as they flickered to life, and Henry found himself face to face with a brown haired man he didn't know.

"Who are you?" Henry demanded.

"I am Clyde," the man said, simply. "I'm almost surprised you came, but I guess I shouldn't be. According to the town, Kid Danger is notoriously loyal."

Neither of them noticed a shadow peering over the edge of a catwalk above them.

"Do whatever you want to me. Just leave my family alone," he ordered.

The man nodded. "Gladly. Take off your mask."

Henry took a deep breath before slipping the red and blue mask off of his face.

Once again, neither Clyde, nor Henry, noticed the shadow pull a cell phone out of their pocket and call the Captain Man Hotline.

Clyde shoved Henry into a nearby chair and tied Henry's arms and legs to the wood before placing a strange contraption on Henry's head. It was white and wrapped around Henry's head with suction cups connected to Henry's temples. It was oddly light on Henry's head, and Henry had a really bad feeling about this.

"Goodbye forever, Henry Hart," Clyde laughed before pressing a button on the remote he pulled out of his pocket.

A light glowed on the contraption, and as soon as the contraption was turned on, Henry felt an excruciating pain fill his skull. It felt like his brain was melting, and a scream was torn from his throat; he couldn't even think through the pain. All he knew was this awful agony and the fact that he needed it to stop.

He was in so much pain, he didn't notice someone knock Clyde out with a rusty pipe, which then clattered to the floor.

The person hit a button on Clyde's remote, but that only made the pain worse, so they hit it again and again and again, and it was only then that Henry realized he had experienced the worst agony he'd ever felt when the machine was on its lowest setting. After ten times of hitting the button, the machine turned off, and the suction cups released their hold on Henry's head.

The person pulled the machine off of Henry's cranium and tossed it to the floor stomping on it until it was nothing but a bunch of little pieces.

The person untied Henry, and he collapsed into their arms as they lowered him to the floor and rested his head in their lap.

"So this is who you really are," the person whispered as a Henry's vision started to clear. "Kid Danger? Henry?"

She said a final word that gave away her identity just as Henry's vision cleared, and he recognized the pretty face staring down at him.

"Herbert?" she said, her voice thick with worry.

Henry smiled, weakly. "Veronica…" he murmured before the world went black as he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

"And now, for breaking news," Trent announced. "One of our own citizens here in Swellview was attacked just over a week ago. Henry Hart, age fourteen, was attacked by a criminal who goes only be the name Clyde. The details of the attack remain unknown, but Henry Hart is resting in Swellview Hospital and has yet to wake up. The criminal was arrested and is awaiting trial in Swellview jail. Back to you, Mary."

All through Swellview, jaws dropped as the news report aired.

Mitch felt tears fill his eyes for the first time in what must've been years…

Ms. Shapen dropped everything upon hearing her favorite (but don't tell anyone) student's name…

The homeless man, who was passing a TV store, froze as the picture of the boy came up on the screen, the boy that had given him money and food…

And they weren't the only ones. All of Swellview felt like they'd been close to losing something when they heard that Henry almost died. Imagine how they would've felt if they knew Henry Hart was actually Kid Danger.

* * *

Henry came to in a very bright hospital room, and he flinched at the blinding light.

"He's waking up," a familiar voice murmured.

Henry pried open his eyes and waited as his vision adjusted to the light, and when his eyes finally adjusted, he saw Ray and Charlotte leaning over him.

"What happened?" he croaked.

"You got attacked," Ray answered. "How are you feeling?"

"My brain hurts," Henry replied.

Charlotte nodded. "That's to be expected. The contraption that guy used was meant to melt your brain. You're lucky Veronica was there. Another second with that thing on, you would've had brain damage."

"Does she know I'm-" Henry began.

"I know you're Kid Danger," Veronica confirmed as she walked into Henry's line of sight. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

"Why were you there? At the warehouse?" Henry added.

"The reason I was at the juvenile detention center was because I had no guardians," Veronica explained. "Now that my mom's back in the picture, I've been released into her custody. After Vandelle was arrested but before I was taken to the detention center, I lived at that warehouse and had left some stuff there, so I went to go get it. Pretty lucky, huh?"

Henry nodded. "Very lucky. Thanks."

"Don't mention it, Herbert," she laughed.

"Why didn't you tell us, Henry?" Ray asked, referring to the threats.

"He told me if I said anything, I wouldn't be the only one to die. Jasper, Charlotte, my family… they'd die if I said anything," Henry mumbled.

"Kid, we could've protected you and your friends and your family," Ray pointed out.

"If you were in my shoes, would you have taken that chance?" Henry asked.

Ray didn't responded.

The door opened, and several people flooded the room.

"Henry!" Piper shouted, throwing her arms around him, and Henry was surprised to see tears in her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm going to be fine, Piper," he assured her.

"You had us scared there," Jasper said. "We thought you were never going to wake up."

Henry nodded. "Well, I did," he told his best friend. "Luckily, Veronica was there."

Henry's mother kissed him on the forehead. "Never scare us like that again. Okay, baby?"

Henry smiled. "I won't."

"The kids at school made you this," Jasper said, handing him a card.

Henry's eyes widened. "It looks like every kid in the school signed this."

Charlotte nodded. "They did, and every staff member. Everyone's really worried about you."

"Well, tell them to stop worrying. I'll be just fine," Henry said.

"You will if you take it easy," Ray said. "I don't want to see you at work until you have an authentic doctor's note clearing you."

Henry laughed. "Deal."

"No wonder you were acting so weird," Charlotte said after everyone except for her and Ray had left the room to avoid crowding Henry any further. "You were living everyday-"

"As though that day was my last," Henry finished. "If there's one thing I learned from all of this, we're not promised a tomorrow. So we have to live everyday as though tomorrow will never come."

Charlotte smiled. "I love you, Hen. You're like the brother I never had."

* * *

If today was your last day... what would you do with it?

* * *

 _Please excuse any mistakes. I've been editing a bunch of stuff all day after getting little sleep last night, so my brain is almost fried._

 _I know it was kind of choppy, but the message of the story was more important than the flow of the story, in my opinion, so I didn't worry about it too much._

 _I love feedback (but keep it kind or constructive criticism because any flames will be ignored and reported if necessary), so please tell me what you thought in the form of a review or a PM!_

 _Thank you all for reading! Goodbye, everyone!_


End file.
